


The Show Must Go On

by Lorbie05



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Pureblood Culture (Harry Potter), UHEA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:02:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26668666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lorbie05/pseuds/Lorbie05
Summary: Like any pureblood girl, Lavender was raised with one goal from birth: Find a pureblood man to marry and have the required heir plus the spare. It was supposed to be an easy goal. She was good looking, not Sacred 28, but still a pureblood, and she had been trained in all the things a good wife should be able to do.Lavender would do anything to get what she wanted, even make an alliance with the opposite side. What were morals when deep down, she knew the show must go on?
Relationships: Lavender Brown & Peter Pettigrew, Lavender Brown/Ron Weasley
Comments: 31
Kudos: 31
Collections: Sing Me a Rare: UK Invasion!





	The Show Must Go On

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sing Me a Rare: The UK Invasion. Much love to my alpha who shale remain nameless until the fest if complete.
> 
> Song Prompt - The Show Must Go On by Queen
> 
> Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copywrite infringement is intended. No profit is being made from this creation.

Lavender Brown wasn’t stupid, even though the majority of her classmates believed she was. She let them underestimate her though, because she had a plan, and she would have it realized no matter what.

Like any pureblood girl, Lavender was raised with one goal from birth:  _ Find a pureblood man to marry and have the required heir plus the spare. _ It was supposed to be an easy goal. She was good looking, not Sacred 28, but still a pureblood, and she had been trained in all the things a good wife should be able to do.

The problem was realized after she was sorted into Gryffindor and her picks of pureblood boys was shockingly low. There were two in her year: Neville Longbottom and Ronald Weasley. Neither were really her first choice, but her mother had always told her to make the best of any situation. 

As she eyed up both of the boys, she knew there was really only one choice for her. Neville was adorable, in a cute chubby puppy sort of way, but Ronald… Ronald could grow to be a powerhouse. She could already see he was friends with Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. That meant he would be famous too.

She could make this work in her favor, make him work in her favor.

Lavender knew she had to put herself above the other girls in their year. Parvati would be her best friend, so she knew she wouldn’t be any competition, but she wasn’t so sure about the other girls. She knew she had to encourage any discourse she could find with them.

Hermione Granger seemed to be the easiest target at first. Lavender could see the potential of her immediately. She was bright, more so than her. She was a muggleborn, a novelty. And she could even see that with her bone structure, Hermione would grow up to be very pretty. Well as long as she did something with that dreadful hair.

And that’s where the problem laid. She knew Ronald could be interested in the other girl if given the chance. Lavender knew she would do everything in her power to keep them apart.

For years, Lavender had tried to create drama between Ron and Hermione. In first year, she encouraged his teasing of the girl. She had almost felt bad that Halloween night when she was almost crushed by the troll. She had laughed cruelly at Ron’s comment after Charms. But the look in Ron’s eyes when he realized Lavender was focusing on his words had been worth it.

When Hermione returned to the dorm later that night, covered in bits of mortar and concrete, tear tracks down her face, Lavender felt a twinge of guilt that she quickly squashed. In the end, it didn’t matter who she broke or hurt though, as long as she got her own dream ending.

That night, Lavender’s personal mantrawas created. From then on, whenever Lavender found herself participating in anything she might have found questionable, she found herself repeating, “The show must go on,” over and over.

Of course, that night did backfire on her. As the next morning dawned and Hermione Granger was found in between both Ron and Harry, Lavender swore she would work harder.

Their second year wasn’t much better. With worries of the Heir of Slytherin back, and people being attacked, Lavender did everything in her power to try to find the person. Maybe she could get rid of her competition cleanly.

Lavender thought she would be over the moon happy if Hermione was taken out by Slytherin’s monster. And she was, for a while. She had Ron’s attention to herself again. But as the weeks passed, her eyes always went to the empty bed in the corner of her dorm, and that little bit of guilt would pop back up.

In those moments, she would just repeat her mantra, over and over until she believed it herself again.  _ She’d get the boy she wanted. She’d be the perfect pureblood wife. She’d get the life she was meant to have.  _

After all, the show must go on, and she would make sure it did.

Third year is when it all changed for Lavender. Third year was the year she met  _ him _ ; Peter Pettigrew. She knew she wasn’t supposed to meet him, and really, deep down she knew she should have exposed him. But he had pretty words, and he convinced her he held the key to her deepest desires. That he could help her, if only she kept his secret, if only she helped him too.

He had watched her for years now, he told her. He knew how much she coveted the red head he spent all of his time with. 

“And really, little girl, what would people think if they found out you were snooping around in Ron’s room? Who knows how they’d react if they knew you searched through his belongings?”

Lavender knew she was caught, she knew she was being manipulated, but she also didn’t want anyone to know her secrets, so she kept his. And from that point forward, she was his contact. She kept his secret, she helped him, in hopes that he would keep his end of the bargain. 

And for a while, he did. She watched as his plan to create tension between the trio unfolded. And she was happy. As Pettigrew continued to push Ron and Hermione away from each other, she was there, laying her foundation. 

Of course Ron was still too young to really understand her intentions, but there she was, at his side. She was the sympathetic shoulder for him to lean on when Scabbers had apparently died. Of course she knew better. She knew the animagus was just out hiding. But he was keeping up his end of the bargain, and it was working. She and Ron were closer than ever.

It wasn’t until she went to visit Ron in the hospital wing that she overheard Harry and Hermione whispering quietly about how Peter Pettigrew was still alive and had escaped that Lavender started to get nervous.

The man was on the run and she’d still be expected to help him.  _ The show must go on, Lavender. Get it together. You can do this, _ she thought.

The first time he contacted her for monetary help, she thought it would be a one off. Of course she got the money from her daddy. He was good like that, always willing to spoil his little girl. But then the requests didn’t stop, and her father was starting to get suspicious. 

When she tried to deny him, that’s when she found out the truth. She was no longer working just with Pettigrew. She was helping him support and raise the Dark Lord back to his former glory.

She thought she’d have more issues with that, but if she was really honest with herself, and Lavender always tried to be, she really didn’t. Of course, she really didn’t have any issues with the muggleborns, but she knew her blood made her better. And she knew one muggleborn in particular could ruin all her plans.

So she kept her support of both Pettigrew and the Dark Lord. She just had to hide the money moving around from her father.

Pettigrew had already informed her of their plan and their mole inside Hogwarts, so Lavender wasn’t surprised when Harry’s name was pulled from the Goblet of Fire. She knew her Ron well enough to know he was going to be unsupportive of Harry at first. Taking advantage of his insecurities, Lavender used those months to be Ron’s rock.

It was quite simple to play up to his insecurities. She was the doting friend that he needed when Hermione was too busy trying to keep Harry alive. It wasn’t that she actually wanted Harry to die, but she had already made her alliances, and she couldn’t end them now.

It would be simpler for him to get snuffed out by the first task, but she knew he was important to the Dark Lord’s plans. She made sure to keep Ron occupied so Hermione could continue her work with Harry.

In all of his fickleness, of course Ron went crawling back to Harry and Hermione after the first task and Lavender was pushed away again. She knew she just had to keep quiet, and she’d eventually have the boy.

By the third task, Lavender was so good at masking her true emotions, that she was able to pretend she was excited to witness the conclusion of the tournament. In reality, she was so wound up and tense because she knew the Dark Lord would finally be resurrected.

With him back, everything would change. She knew though, that her situation would be different than anyone else. She had shown him her support in his need, and helped his servants, and she had been promised her own reward. Ron would be hers, the Dark Lord had promised.

When Harry popped back into existence with the body of Cedric Diggory however, Lavender didn’t have to fake her tears. Cedric was a pureblood. He was supposed to be safe in the Dark Lord’s world. Looking at his emotionless eyes, Lavender felt her first hints of unease.

But as was usual, Lavender knew the show must go on.

Any lingering guilt or unease faded from her during her fifth year. Finally, Ron had noticed her and had taken action. She spent several months in bliss as his girlfriend. Even better was the looks of jealous hurt she noticed on Hermione’s face. Lavender had finally won him, and if she gave the boy more than she originally wanted to, it didn’t matter, because he knew the rules too.

Pureblood customs were very clear on premarital sex. Once consummated, there could only be a marriage contract between the two. Her father would insist upon it, and his family would have to comply. She couldn’t help but feel smug toward Hermione. She had finally won after all.

After their first night together, Lavender wrote two letters. The first to her mother to ask for the marriage contract to be drawn up, and the second to Pettigrew. She had her man, she was now ready to take a more backseat role.

Her mother’s reply was everything she had hoped it would be. The howler Ron received during breakfast was not. The whole Great Hall heard how disappointed the Weasley Matriarch was in her youngest son, but that they would be moving forward with the marriage contract whether he wanted it or not. 

She watched Ron’s face go pale, making his freckles stand out more than normal as his mother’s voice rang through the hall. He glanced her way once it was done, and nodded slightly. He knew the rules just as well as she did, and he knew what was expected. 

Lavender left the Great Hall almost floating. Her good mood lasted right until she saw the letter waiting on her bed from Pettigrew. He reminded her that there was no backseat role for the Dark Lord, and that she would be expected to do the bidding of their lord as he needed.

From then on, Lavender balanced between spending her time with her betrothed and being terrified her lord would require more from her.

It wasn’t until the summer before her seventh year that Lavender truly began to worry about her future husband. She knew he was firmly on Team Harry, and that they were planning something big. She had been quietly feeding information from the trio to both Pettigrew and the Dark Lord for the past two years.

The night before his brother’s wedding, Ron pulled Lavender aside.

“Lav, you should know by now that I love you, and you mean the world to me. It’s been a rough few years, but I honestly can’t wait until we finally say our vows. The problem though, is that I’m leaving soon. Harry, Hermione, and I, well, Dumbledore has some tasks for us, and if we ever want this war to be over, we’ve got to go.”

Lavender stared at him in silence until the quiet became uncomfortable. 

“Say something, please,” he begged.

“You’re leaving me? To run off with Hermoine Granger?”

“It’s not like that, Lav. Trust me, if I didn’t care so much for Harry, I wouldn’t go, but I have to, ya know?”

“No, I don’t know. You’re my world, Ron. Everything I’ve done has been for you, and my love for you.”

“Lavender, I love you, and I’ll be back before you know it. Just, let’s be together tonight. One last night until we’re reunited.”

She spent the night with him that night. Giving herself to him as many times as he wanted, because she would miss him, and she knew her world was about to change again.

When he apparated away with both Harry and Hermione the next night, she didn’t notice the man grabbing her before it was too late.

Lavender found herself in an opulent receiving room in front of her master.

“My lord,” she said while bowing. With her head down, she didn’t see the curse coming. Lavender felt pain unlike anything she had felt before flow through her body. Her body seized up, her muscles screaming, as she lost control of her reflexes. 

Lavender found herself shaking on the floor, covered in her own vomit and excrement.

“Where have they gone, girl?”

“I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “I don’t know where they’ve gone.”

“Not the right answer,” he replied, hitting her with the curse again.

She thought the first round was the most painful thing she had ever felt. The second round proved her wrong. When the curse stopped, Lavender didn’t know if she’d be able to stand again. “Please my lord, they haven’t told me anything of use. Look into my mind, you’ll see I’m telling the truth.”

“Very well.” Lavender felt the Dark Lord ripping through her mind and he searched through her memories. “What a pity you were telling the truth. Pettigrew, get the girl away from me and fixed up. We still have use of her.”

Lavender barely felt herself being moved by Pettigrew. She didn’t notice the look the other Death Eaters, especially the werewolf, were giving her, but Pettigrew certainly did. She also didn’t feel the extra wards being placed on her rooms to protect her from the wolf.

Lavender continued to do her lord’s bidding once she was back at Hogwarts. She was the perfect spy and mole. Who would expect a Gryffindor, let alone Ron Weasley’s fiance to be anything but loyal to the light?

But Lavender was so tired. She was tired of her role. She was tired of the dark. All she had wanted was to be the perfect pureblood housewife. And now she was in the middle of a great war, a spy, and she was tired. Even her love for Ron was starting to not be as important. 

The night of the final battle, Lavender was ready for everything to be over. She had heard Pettigrew had died weeks before. She should probably be sad, but she was honestly relieved. Her loyalty to him finally done.

She spent the whole battle trying to get a glimpse of Ron. In her distraction to find her fiance, she didn’t notice the werewolf stalking her every move.

“Hello, little girl,” Fenrir whispered in her ear. Lavender froze as his gravelly voice washed over her. “I’ve been waiting to get you alone to myself for a long time now.”

She whimpered as she felt his hands wrap around her hips and his tongue trace the outer edge of her ear.

“You taste even better than I imagined. I would have tasted you that first night had Pettigrew not warded your rooms against me. I watched him die, you know? Spit on his corpse too. We’re going to have fun, you and me.”

She tried to cry out as Fenrir threw her over his shoulder. As he carried her to Merlin knows where, she finally got her wish. Right there, across the entrance hall was Ron. But to her horror, Hermione Granger was right next to him with her arms around his neck and her lips pressed to his.

She didn’t know what was worse, the knowledge that the werewolf would use and then dispose of her body, or that the man she loved, the man she had literally sold her soul to the devil for, was in the arms of the one person she knew would be her competition.

Lavender felt Fenrir chuckle as his claws dug into the flesh of her thighs. “Come on little girl, I won't be denied any longer.”

She found she couldn’t find comfort in her mantra anymore. For Lavender, she knew her show was over, and the curtain was finally about to close.


End file.
